Copyright © 1999 by Michael Segers, All rights reserved
With the summer heat showing no mercy, what could be better than a double-feature? Of course, such things don’t show on the screens of today’s megaplexes, but Rovin and Ravin’ comes through. So, take the popcorn out of the microwave, pour yourself something cold (you won’t need a designated driver), and cool off.
To begin with some basics, the new version of The Haunting, a film which stumbles on its own excesses, is admirably restrained in a few areas. The one reference to bisexuality goes nowhere. The infamous four-letter word which takes up more and more dialogue these days is, as far as I noticed, missing. So is nudity, partial or otherwise, and for a film that involves violence in the past, there is very little gore. The one beheading (only one?) is bloodless. So, everything fits comfortably into the PG-13 rating.
But, that’s the problem with this supposed horror film. It is too comfortable, bloodless, and seriously lacking in horror. That’s too bad, because it gets off to a good start, with a long, slow build up of characterization and interactions, with subtle hints, unexplained sounds that trouble but don’t terrify. Fans of the earlier film of the same title (1963), based on the same Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House, will feel right at home in this new old house, but only briefly. Hill House has been updated as the setting for a weeklong study supposedly of insomnia which is, in fact, under Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson) a study of fear.
Joining the not so good, at least not so truthful, doctor are three volunteers and two assistants. The two assistants disappear early on, with no real explanation for their ever being in the film or being out of it. So, we are left with Dr. Marrow and three volunteers. Eleanor/Nell (Lili Taylor) is trying to find a life after dedicating her life to caring for her mother; Theodora (Catherine Zeta-Jones) speaks two disconnnected sentences about her boyfriend and her girlfriend; and Luke (Owen Wilson) doesn’t do much more than encourage and receive Theodora’s insults. Bruce Dern contributes a cameo as the caretaker. But the true star of the film is the house itself. It is at once beautiful and threatening, campy and disquieting. But, it’s hard to establish any emotional rapport with a character with noisy plumbing.
The film succeeds visually, wonderfully, with the house doing things no self-respecting bungalow would even dream of. But, for a horror film to work, it must make an emotional connection and a logical connection, and this film falls flat on both fronts. In the simplest terms, it ain’t scary.
There is no emotional connection. The character of Nell almost breaks through the mess of plot but eventually bogs down in it. She made me think of Oscar Wilde’s remark about the death of another Nell, Little Nell, in Charles Dickens’s Old Curiosity Shop: "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell… without giggling." Theo is all designer boots and attitude, and Luke is not much of anything.
As for the logic, a horror film must cover its bases. We must have no logical reason to refuse to believe what is happening. Okay, we can deal with one twist in the rules, one variation from the norm. But, by the time statues, bedsheets, and hairdos all come to life, the situation gets unintentionally funny. For me, at least, the time sequence didn’t seem plausible. Supposedly, everything takes place between one evening and the next night, but I still am not sure. If we still had Vincent Price around to bring a prissy precision to the proceedings, it all might work, but Liam Neeson seems to have begun his announced retirement from acting before this film was completed. Understandably.
I wish I could tell you to rush out and see this film, but I can’t. I’m not alone, since even the audience at the Hollywood premiere, with director Jan De Bont and the actors in attendance, booed—not a typical premiere. I grew up on the old Edgar Allen Poe rehashes and lived in a house that I always felt had a crypt tucked away somewhere. But, maybe we have gotten too sophisticated for a good old scary film. We’ve been jaded by too many special effects, too many gallons of fake blood.
But, I’ll get off my soapbox, and move on to brighter prospects. I took out my frustrations with this film at a great salad bar. Then, I came home, grabbed a cat and a tv remote and surfed upon a film that has just what we need for a summer evening—dry humor, lots of plot, great costumes, and some fascinating characters, Cousin Bette, directed by Des McAnuff. This film didn’t attract much attention when it opened last year, but cable channels (where I saw it) and videotape may give it a well-deserved second chance.
Jessica Lange plays Bette, the ugly duckling (Jessica Lange?) cousin of the Hulot family, who turns into a buzzard picking the overripe meat off their pseudo-aristocratic bones. This film is based on the novel by Honore de Balzac, France’s answer to Dickens (though the French would, I am sure, would say Dickens was the English answer to Balzac).
I haven’t read this novel by Balzac, but from what I know of his work, I suspect that much is missing—mainly the social and economic contexts that readers of English know better from Dickens’s novels. But, it’s summer, and it’s too hot for a context. I’ll settle for something tall and cold to drink and well-plotted and well-constumed to watch. For an added bonus, you actually get to hear the word courtesan spoken—not something that happens every day. I don’t want to spoil the plot for you, but just remember that to err is human, to forgive, divine, but to get even is the basis for some of our best stories.
Now, go keep your feet dry and your heart full of noble thoughts. Let’s get literary for a change. To learn more about Shirley Jackson, whose work served as the inspiration for The Haunting, go to—
http://www.catharton.com/authors/269.htm
To find out what can happen in fewer than 3,500 words (besides a probable violation of the copyright law) in the hands of a literary craftswoman, read her classic story "The Lottery" at—
http://www.interlog.com/ command/grim/lotry.htm
For Honore de Balzac for English readers, check out—
http://members.aol.com/balssa/balzac/balzac.html
Find how to get the text of Balzac’s novel, with the title spelled Cousin Betty (the vagrancies of translation) at—
http://www.promo.net/pg/_authors/balzac_honore_de_.html#cousinbetty